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Area

Home loan limits

USDA Rural Development announced new area loan limits for the Direct Single Family Housing Program. Effective April 15, Rural Development will adopt the following loan limits: Knox and Waldo counties, $180,000; Lincoln County, $220,000.

Belfast

Farmers market

The Belfast Farmers’ Market will launch its 2011 season with a Main Street Festival 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, May 6, on upper Main Street between Church and High streets. Local musician and storyteller Jennifer Armstrong will provide entertainment. The market’s Main Street festivals will take place on the first Friday of each month May through October. For a list of this season’s 23 vendors, visit belfastfarmersmarket.org.

Brooks

Brooks fire department

The Brooks Volunteer Municipal Fire Department has purchased a SAVA Lifting Bag System that includes two 24-ton, two 12- ton and one 3.5-ton airbags. Each bag inflates through an air hose attached to firefighters’ air packs. Also purchased were two auto-cribs to be used to assist lifting accident vehicles safely. The two cribs cost $1,000 and are used to wedge under a turned-over vehicle, said Chief Jeff Archer. Before that purchase, firemen used the Jaws of Life, jacks and blocking, a time-consuming task when every minute counts.

Next on the fundraising list are struts to safely stabilize an overturned vehicle in six to seven minutes rather than 15-20 minutes using miscellaneous equipment. These cost $4,000-$5,000.

Training on the operation of each piece of rescue equipment is necessary before putting it into use. Training is reviewed constantly for risk analysis and assessment to promote the quickest and safest procedures. Recently, Brooks and the surrounding communities’ firefighters participated in Life Flight Landing Zone training at the Belfast City Park baseball field. When Life Flight is needed, it is crucial that the helicopter pilot is assured that the landing zone is clear and prepared.

Recently, Brooks Fire Department was visited by the Maine Bureau of Labor Standards for 3½ hours. Training records and policies were reviewed, and inspector Bob King said the Brooks department had one of the best records departments in Maine and recommended the town of Brooks for the SHAPE program.

To raise funds for the fire department, Don Nickerson and Country Mist will perform at a Good Old Time Dance, 7:30-11:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Jackson Community Center. Attendees must be 21 or older. Admission is $12. To reserve a table, call Audrey at 323-2426 or David at 322-3947.

Timber framing workshop

Hand hewing and timber framing expert Mike Beaudry of Montville will teach a Crafting Frames of Timber workshop Saturday and Sunday, May 7 and 8, at Newforest Institute. Beginning with logs, participants will hew out dimensional timbers, cut joinery, make trunnels (wooden pegs), and raise and trunnel the frame. The finished product will be a roof frame for Newforest’s solar shower building. To register for the workshop and for more information, call Newforest at 722-3625.

Camden

Nostalgic film

The Camden Lions Club will present a nostalgic film clip from 1942 made by one of the members of the club at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, at the Camden Public Library. The film represents the town of Camden and nearby areas, with businesses and Lions Club members featured. Ken Libby shot the film in 1942 with a hand-held movie camera. Most of the clips are in black and white, but some are in color. Jack Williams narrates the film.

Robin Lee of the Camden Lions Club will host the evening. Bob Oxton will talk about the history of the star on Mt. Battie. Oxton and volunteers from the Lions Club install the star on the tower on Mt. Battie every Christmas season.

Home-baked refreshments will be provided by the Lions Club volunteers. The event is free and open to all.

Cushing

Historical society program

The Cushing Historical Society will host a program at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at its meeting house on Hathorn Point Road. The program is free and open to all. Speakers will be Joe Villania and Paulo Carvalho, co-trustees of the Musical Wonder House Museum in Wiscasset, and Richard Delano, a docent at the museum. They will present a history of mechanical musical instruments and display and demonstrate several examples of music box machinery from their collection.

The museum features more than 5,000 restored music boxes, player grand pianos and organs, spring-wound phonographs, musical birds, porcelains, clocks, and several musical paintings, demonstrated and displayed in opulent rooms furnished with period antiques and housed in a 32-room 1852 sea captain’s mansion.

The museum is open to the public in season for guided presentations. The year-round,

onsite staff is available to assist with repairs, restorations and written appraisals.

• Networking Your Way to a New Career, 3 p.m. Monday, May 9. Join Morgan Jamison and learn what it means to network, why it helps in a job search and what resources you need to get started.

• Interviewing 101: The First 30 Seconds Can Make or Break You, 10 a.m. Thursday, May 26. Interactive workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to practice answering common interview questions. Free.

Call 563-1363 to register for these classes. The Cyber Cafe is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Liberty

Chanting

An Evening of Sanskrit Chanting with guests from the Hridaya Hermitage will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, hosted by the Ayurveda Yoga Center. Admission is by suggested donation of $15. For more information, call the center at 589-4254.

Monroe

Sports Day and Cream Tea

An old-fashioned English Sports Day and Cream Tea will be held at 1 p.m. Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, in a field across from The Red Barn on Red Barn Road. The event will feature croquet, egg and spoon race, three-legged race, hilarious outfits and lots of lovely scones and tea. Bring a teacup, a chair and your mum. The cost is $10, $5 children.

The event is a fundraiser for Hila Shooter’s high school semester trip to Ecuador. For more information and to make a reservation, call 525-3008.

Rockland

Food Not Fines Week

Rockland Public Library has declared the week of May 9-14 Food Not Fines Week, part of a statewide fine amnesty and food drive coordinated by the Maine State Library. During that week, patrons who return overdue library items will have current and past fines, not including item replacement charges, excused in exchange for donations of nonperishable food. Those food donations will be distributed at the Area Interfaith Outreach Pantry.

Park renovations

Renovation work is taking place to Winslow-Holbrook Memorial Park, located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Main Street and Park Drive.

Renovations to the park will include removal of existing pavers and leveling of the ground beneath, installation of granite pavers donated by the Farnsworth Art Museum and re-use of some existing pavers, installation of cobblestones reclaimed from earlier city streetscape projects, and installation of energy-efficient lighting. Trees in the park were pruned and stabilized last fall as part of this project. It is anticipated that the renovations will take about five days to complete, weather permitting.

Winslow-Holbrook Memorial Park was dedicated by the city of Rockland in 2009 to Pvt. First Class Arthur Winslow and Lt. Albert Holbrook, two Rockland natives who died in 1918 while fighting in France during World War I.

Funding for the Winslow-Holbrook Memorial Park renovations was provided by a Green Downtown Challenge Grant to Rockland Main Street LLC and by the city of Rockland. In addition, the Farnsworth Art Museum has donated more than 700 square feet of Deer Isle granite pavers to be used to resurface the park.

For more information, call Ann Matlack, assistant to the city manager, at 594-0306 or email amatlack@ci.rockland.me.us.

Lime kiln returns

The Sail, Power and Steam Museum will fire up the first lime kiln in Rockland in almost 100 years Saturday, May 7. At one time, as many as 150 kilns burned limestone day and night on the shores of Penobscot Bay. Rockland was the lime capital of the world, with nearly 100 kilns along the harbor. Limestone burned in the kilns was shipped all over the world to make cement.

Lead by stonecutter Joe Auciello, volunteers at the museum have constructed a working model lime kiln at the museum. The kiln will be fired by wood and is fashioned just as the kilns built in the late 19th century were, complete with two fire boxes and a draw pit at the bottom to extract the cooked stone.

The fire boxes were provided by Dragon Cement Co. and stone was provided by George Hall & Son and trucked in by Spears. A cement foundation was provided by Ferraiolo Concrete Products.

The first test firing of the model kiln will take place 11 a.m to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7. Since there will be a fire, a hot dog roast also is planned.

The Sail, Power and Steam Museum is at 75 Mechanic St. For more information on the event, call 701-7627 or email sharpadventures@att.net.

Rockport

Lori Costigan, owner of a commercial lavender farm in Appleton, will discuss growing more than a dozen varieties of French and English lavender as the guest of the Rockport Garden Club 2-30-3:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5, lower level, Rockport Opera House, 6 Central St. The event is free and open to all. For more information, call Patti Peace at 594-1919 or Melody Schubert at 236-2162.

Spruce Head

Founder’s Day

Preceptor Beta Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi will celebrate the 80th year of its founding with a dinner on Thursday, May 5, at the Craignair Inn. The theme is “New Paths to Friendship.”

The organization has members of all ages and educational backgrounds, including 21 members from Rockland, Owls Head, Lincolnville, Thomaston, Warren, Rockport, Hope, Spruce Head and Tenants Harbor.

The organization invites any former sister who may be visiting the area, just moving to the area, in inactive status or on leave of absence to attend the dinner to find “New Paths to

Friendship.” For more information, call Dottie Liberty at 596-6032 or email libertyd@midcoast.com.

Thomaston

Wastewater grant

At an Earth Day celebration, members of the Thomaston community gathered to hear an announcement that will benefit the surrounding environment and shellfish industry.

USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel was joined by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree to announce that Thomaston will receive a total of $1,887,000 to make improvements to its wastewater infrastructure. The town will contribute funds in the amount of $113,000 to make the $2,000,000 project possible. The total investment Rural Development has provided to Thomaston is $9,287,000 through the Community Programs.

The funds will result in upgrades to the town’s primary sewer lines, which were constructed between 1891 and 1925. The aging lines serve several streets in Thomaston and discharge directly into the St. George and Mill rivers. Replacement of the century-old lines will preserve the area’s clamming flats by protecting them from runoff from sewer overflows. In addition, the upgrades will improve the water quality of the St. George and Mill rivers and protect the viability of one of the top shellfish producing areas in Maine. The improvements are supported by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Wiscasset

Construction underway

Construction crews have begun excavation on Route 1 and Route 218 in Wiscasset in order to replace the aging water main and storm drain infrastructure.

Crews have begun excavations on portions of Route 1 between the Sheepscot River and Pleasant Street. During the day, two lanes of traffic will remain open for almost the entire duration of the construction period, with brief closures at night for areas where the water and storm pipes cross the road. The Wiscasset police department and certified flaggers will assist in traffic management during the construction.

Construction is scheduled to be completed by mid-June, at which time crews will focus on replacing the water main and storm drains on Route 218 (Federal Street) between Main Street and Morton Street. Work on Federal Street will be completed during the day. Due to the narrow nature of the road, flaggers will regulate one-way, alternating traffic on Route 218.

Harry C. Crooker and Sons Inc. of Topsham is the contractor for the $1.6 million project overseen by Tata and Howard of Portland, a water and wastewater consulting firm.

The town of Wiscasset is overseeing the locally administered project. Wiscasset needed to replace its aging water mains to address water quality issues and improve water flow and water pressure. In order to minimize traffic disruptions, the Maine Department of Transportation opted to replace the deteriorating storm drainage system while the water main was replaced. This allowed both projects to occur simultaneously, eliminating the need to excavate the road again in the near future.